DEMOCRACY IN ESTONIA

 Democracy – a system of governance by the whole population. We do not have democracy in Estonia nor in Europe (I will not get into Europe in today’s article). First, we need to understand what democracy is: a type of governance where the whole native population holds the highest power in the country. Truly I say that here it is not so, and let me explain why:

 In the Estonian Constitution, Chapter 1 §1 states: “Estonia is an independent and sovereign democratic republic where supreme political authority belongs to the people.”

  In Estonia, and in many so-called democracies around the world, the same statement is made — that the people hold the highest power in the country. But truly I say, this is not so.

 In Estonia, the current prime minister, Kristen Michal, has an approval rating of around 5% (as of August 2025). So let me ask: where is the democracy? From this, I see that the people are not happy with the current prime minister; people are clearly signaling a desire for change. Is this not the use of the supreme power held by the people? It is the use of it — but then why is nothing changing? Why is nobody responding to the people’s exercise of the supreme power in the country?

 Because it is merely propaganda. The people use their constitution-given right, yet nothing happens. If the people want the current prime minister gone, then the prime minister should either step down or be impeached. That would be democracy — the people truly leading. But in Estonia, by law, when people start petitions that reach the required number of votes, they may be put up for debate in parliament, but parliament is not obligated to act on them. Yes, that’s correct: even after debating a petition, the parliament is not mandated to fulfill any requests or demands from it.

 This is a violation of the constitution in this sense, because the people’s will — their use of the supreme power granted by the constitution — is disregarded like a 5-year-old’s request for candy. This should simply not be acceptable, yet people are not speaking up; that is why this continues again and again.

Between 1920–1933, Estonia’s constitution required the parliament to debate petitions, and if the people’s will was not met — for example, a proposed change of law — then it would automatically be put to a referendum. And if the referendum received majority approval, it showed mistrust toward the parliament. That is what we can call democracy — something we do not have today. I want to encourage the people to speak up about such problems and about their views and understandings and beliefs. Show your want for change, do not keep quiet!

I also highly encourage you to watch this video, as in the video compatriot Varro Vooglaid explains the illusion of democracy in Estonia, it also has english subtitles, sound is in Estonian: https://youtu.be/Brc9AY-4v1E?si=DWOMeR8GlItZkmFk